Tuesday, 15 February 2011

Digipaks - The Art of Vinyl (JH)

The Art of Vinyls

Vinyl Records (or LPs) originate back to the 1870s when inventor Thomas Edison created the earliest known Phonograph. A user on blurtit.com explains that "when you record on a vinyl disc, the sound is transferred into a recording needle. The needle scratches grooves in the disc. The sound manipulates the scratching into different wave forms. So when you run a stylus (or playing needle) through the grooves , it reverses the process and vibrates the needle. A preamp picks up the vibration. The vibration that it picks up is the song scratched into the disc."

Vinyl's boomed from the 1960s to the 1990's where they became outdated by the newest fad, tapes and then CDs. Though in more recent years the demand for Vinyl's has increased . In recent years we have seen the closing down of CD stores like Zaavi and Virgin Megastores, specialist vinyl-only music shops are opening. Even large highstreet shops such as Urban Outfitters (which is primarily a clothing store) sell vinyls.

Classic Records are a lot of money. Records are classed as vintage and vintage is in fashion these days. Not only car boot sales, but actual secondhand vinyl shops show that classic vinyls are in huge demand. This is particularly important for indie bands that's original vinyl had limited release. New Order's "Blue Monday" whilst being a massive chart hit, actually sold out of vinyl presses due to unexpected high demand.

It's not just an older audience that want vinyls. As previously mentioned, vintage shops are becoming ever more popular. But more than clothes, people want the possessions that went alongside them. The 80s in particular has seen a modern rebirth. There is also huge debate that the quality of vinyl recordings is substantially better than CD quality and even more-so than downloads. Younger audiences are starting to pick up classic records. I myself have even bought a vinyl (Jeff Buckley's "Grace") I have seen the profit that it may hold being the only LP released by the singer before his death. It is substantially important to us that our release will appeal to old and young audiences alike.

Limited Edition vinyls are also becoming more popular. Re-releasing albums is now very popular, and often we see limited edition vinyls go alongside this. These essentially become collector's items and again can be worth a lot. Some bands even number these just so fans (or collector's) know just how rare they are. Sometimes these feature different artwork again to stand out as being collectable.

But also more artistic bands release vinyl editions of their albums at the same time that the CD and download is released. This is partly due to seeing an opportunity to tap into that certain market area, but also they too feel that vinyl is the true form of music release. Alternative rock band Brand New are an example of this having released both of their last two albums on vinyl. Their influences hail back to The Smiths and the 1980s so in a way the vinyl edition of the album is a way for them to put themselves side by side with their heroes.

This article from The Canadian Press sums things up pretty perfectly when it states about the way of the modern music release "iPods in one hand, vinyls in the other".